Sunday, August 26, 2007

When you sign a public document, like a petition, your information is public. The purpose of KnowThyNeighbor.org is to get people to start talking about the devisive issues that keep people from understanding why equality for everyone is so important. GLBT people should be allowed to marry who they love regardless of their sex. By posting the names of the people who sign a petition to end this right, it allows for dialog between the opposing sides. All too often people would like to keep their bigotry secret, but when you sign a public document it opens the door for public scrutiny. Those who wish to cast stones from the safety of anonymity may want to rethink their actions.

As for those who try to claim that this is intimidation, you would have to cite an instance where people were harassed. Much like the fears that the opponents of equality try to fuel, there is no substance to this claim. In fact, it was the opponents who clearly went over the line and tried to intimidate others. VoteOnMarriage used wanted dead or alive style posters to try to scare legislators into voting their way during their failed attempt to force their religious beliefs into the Massachusetts state Constitution.

In the two years that the original KnowThyNeighbor.org website has been running, it has given people on both sides a place to discuss their feelings, and has served as a useful tool in uncovering petition signature fraud. Thank you Tom Lang and Aaron Toleos for all that you have done already, and thank you even more for keeping up the good fight!

Friday, August 24, 2007

This video is put here to remind people that hate is not an isolated incident, and hate crimes happen all the time. To end this horror, we must all agree violence is wrong, no matter the form, and teach our children to demand better. We also need to lead by example. When you come across violence, what do you do? Report it to the authorities if you see it, and denounce it if it is brought up in conversation. Together we can make a difference is we try.

“Thomas brings a tremendous amount of energy, talent and financial expertise to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board,” said Governor Patrick. “His presence will add a valuable business and financial perspective to board deliberations.”

Stephens, a Boston resident, is Director of Annuity Sales for MetLife, Inc. In his current role he oversees all marketing and sales activity for variable, fixed and immediate annuities, in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine, which exceeds $500 million. He earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mathematics from Hampton University in Virginia and Northeastern University in Boston respectively. Prior to his 15-year career in the financial services field, he was a mathematics instructor at Northeastern.

“I appreciate the great responsibility that Governor Patrick has entrusted in me with this appointment,” Stephens said. “I am committed to working with Secretary Cohen and my fellow board members to ensure that the MTA is managed in an open and responsive manner that will benefit the citizens who depend on it on a daily basis.”

"The Turnpike board will surely benefit from Mr. Stephens’ fiscal expertise and skill as we work to place the authority on a firm financial footing," said state Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen. "I look forward to working with him and the rest of the board toward that goal."

Stephens serves on the Board of Trustees of Newbury College and is the past Chairman and President of Greater Boston Financial Services Professionals. He also serves as Co-director and math instructor for The Paul Robeson Institute, a Saturday academy for boys ages 8-18.

Stephens and his fellow recently-appointed board member Michael Angelini will attend their first MTA board meeting today

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

When reading Tyler Dawbin's latest rant on his website massconservativechristian.blogspot.com I can't help but think, "You poor bastard, you really are insane, aren't you?" One of the many light sockets Tyler likes to stick his privates into is the abortion issue. Tyler tells us how Planned Parenthood has a gay evil agenda, and then somehow ends with Muslins taking over the country. Think I'm kidding? Here is an excerpt and a link to the full article. I am saving the whole thing in case he comes to his senses and erases the post.

"I do apologize for writing a seemingly all-encompassing rant on abortion, starting with fathers as victims and ending with declining birth rates, but there are many facets to this tragedy that I haven't even touched on.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

ARLINGTON, Texas — A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.

Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.

"It's a slap in the face. It's like, 'Oh, we're sorry he died, but he's gay so we can't help you,'" she said Friday. Full story here.

The contempt for GLBT people is so great that those who think they follow God's word fall all over themselves to make sure they don't show any love what so ever. What a terrible thing it is when people would rather find reasons to hate and fear each other rather than spread the peace and love we are called to do as Christians. My heart goes out to the family of this person, as well as the people who follow such an intolerant principle against gay people. People, you own your actions, be critical of what you do."

Friday, August 10, 2007

BOSTON – The Deval Patrick Committee today released the enclosed letter to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. As part of its ongoing compliance efforts, the Committee discovered a limited number of reporting errors. The Committee has substantially completed its review and is making its findings public.

Deval Patrick Committee56 Roland Street, Suite 203Boston, MA 02129

August 10, 2007

Michael SullivanDirector of Political and Campaign FinanceOffice of Campaign and Political FinanceJohn W. McCormack Building One Ashburton Place, Room 411 Boston, MA 02108

Dear Mr. Sullivan,

In our ongoing efforts to comply with state campaign and political finance regulations, we have completed a preliminary review of our 2006 contributions in advance of the mandated OCPF audit. In our 2006 records, we found $51,941 in excess funds from 169 individuals.

Our findings revealed many of the common causes for excess contributions: duplicate records, variations in contributor name, address changes, book keeping error and un-cashed refund checks. We will be amending our reports and returning (or re-returning) any excess funds through the customary reporting structure, but I wanted to notify you directly and make our review public.

As you know, the Committee raised approximately $7.9 million in 2006 from over 30,000 contributors—a record in the Commonwealth’s history. Over half of the 2006 contributions were $100 and below. This level of broad based, low dollar support necessitated over 35,000 reported transactions.

In accordance with regulation, we refunded excess contributions throughout the campaign. It is a priority of this office to continue to maintain open, transparent, and accurate compliance. Given the shear number of contributions received by the Committee, I trust that this notification is valuable in your current review.

We look forward to continuing to work with your office in your review of our 2006 records.

BOSTON – August 3, 2007 – Responding to one of the fastest growing threats facing Massachusetts consumers today, Governor Deval Patrick has signed into law comprehensive identity theft prevention legislation requiring businesses and governments to notify consumers when their data is lost or stolen and sets standards for the disposal of records containing personal information.

The new law also allows consumers to secure credit freezes to prevent new accounts from being fraudulently created in their name. Governor Patrick made this announcement today on his podcast: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=podcastlanding&L=1&L0=Home&f=Home_more&sid=Agov3#top. In the podcast, the Governor praised the efforts of the Attorney General, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House, and other partners in the Legislature for the successful passage of this bill.

“The consequences of identity theft can be devastating and far-reaching for victims,” Governor Patrick said. “This law recognizes the new risks facing consumers today and puts a number of critical safeguards in place to help the people of Massachusetts protect their credit and their good names.”

The new law requires businesses and government agencies to promptly notify affected consumers if their personal information, including social security and license numbers, have been lost or stolen. It also enables consumers to freeze access to their credit reports to prevent identity thieves from establishing credit in their names and caps the fees to place, lift or remove the freeze at five dollars. “Consumers should have a set of tools at their disposal when their personal information becomes compromised,” said Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Director Daniel C. Crane. “Assuring them that they will be contacted if and when a breach occurs and granting them access to credit freezes will give them more control and help them mitigate the impact of identity theft and fraud.”

Under the new law, the Office of Consumer Affairs and the Division of Public Records will set regulations for how businesses and government agencies must protect consumers’ information to prevent data breaches. The law also requires documents containing personal information to be burned, pulverized or shredded. An additional provision allows identity theft victims to obtain a copy of their police report from any law enforcement office regardless of where the theft occurred. Consumers need police reports to qualify for a free credit freeze.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft affects 10 million Americans annually and costs individuals and businesses $52 billion a year. A number of high-profile cases across the country and here in Massachusetts have made headlines throughout the year. Framingham retailer TJX Cos. recently disclosed to customers that thieves had gained access to more than 45 million credit- and debit-card numbers from its computers.

It may not surprise anyone to find that the top five most educated states are all pro-gay equality, while the opposite is true of most of the anti-gay equality states. If this information is cross-referenced with divorce rates, we again see a similar pattern, where those who are pro-equality at the top of the list for lowest divorce rates, while places like Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have the highest rates of divorce.

Here is an unbiased study from Rutgers University that was done about marriage, and you'll note the utter lack of hysteria pertaining to gay marriage in it.

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

REVERE – Wednesday, August 1 – On a walking tour of historic Revere Beach with Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian Bowles and Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan Jr., Governor Deval Patrick today announced steps toward improving maintenance at state beaches in the metropolitan Boston area as well as a top-to-bottom review of DCR as part of a plan to refocus the department on its core mission of parks, forests, and beaches.

“The beaches of Greater Boston are among the most cherished, and most used, recreational facilities in the Commonwealth,” said Governor Patrick. “We need to make them the jewels that we know they can be.”

Meeting with members of the Metropolitan Beaches Commission and area legislators at the William G. Reinstein Bandstand, Governor Patrick announced that DCR will hire several year-round beach managers, each with a maintenance and ranger staff, who will be responsible for the 19 Boston-area coastal beaches, augmenting DCR’s regular maintenance efforts.

“Our metropolitan beaches are vital state assets that provide enjoyment to millions of beachgoers, and they deserve year-round attention,” said Governor Patrick. “We will also strengthen our efforts across the state at beaches like Salisbury, Scusset, and Horseneck.”

The new beach managers come on top of new DCR efforts to ramp up park and beach maintenance this spring and summer. To better respond to the recreational demand in the Greater Boston area, about 60 seasonal staff members were hired several weeks earlier than in past years, and an ambitious maintenance schedule for the spring was followed on July 1 by an even more aggressive upkeep plan for summer. For the first time, maintenance schedules for each park and beach in Greater Boston have been posted on the DCR Web site, www.mass.gov/dcr, for all to see – and to hold the agency accountable.

In addition, Governor Patrick and Secretary Bowles have directed Commissioner Sullivan to conduct a top-to-bottom review, evaluating personnel and organizational structures in terms of how well they serve the department’s primary focus of improving operations and programming at the state’s parks, beaches, and other recreational facilities. This review is to be completed by October 1.

Governor Patrick also asked the Beaches Commission to give DCR an end-of-season report card, rating the metropolitan beaches when the summer’s over.

“We’re working hard, but results are what matter,” said DCR Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan Jr. “Let us know how we’re doing.”

DCR is also using new technology to keep the beaches clean, putting solar-powered “Big Belly” trash compactors in place in many locations, including two on Revere Beach and another on Castle Island in South Boston, and cleaning sidewalks with “Billy Goat” push vacuums that suck in everything in their path. DCR also purchased two motorized surf rakes, and is planning to buy more, to augment the beach-cleaning efforts. Additional waterfront safety training was initiated this year for lifeguards, and new waterfront safety equipment, such as binoculars and kayaks, was purchased. Also, the agency has begun to distribute free litter bags to beach patrons, urging beachgoers to adopt the traditional “carry in, carry out” motto of campers and hikers.

In addition, Governor Patrick has directed Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles and other Cabinet secretaries to begin relieving DCR of duties outside its core responsibilities and let the agency concentrate on its core mission of conservation and recreation. In the administration’s five-year capital plan, which will be announced soon, the rebuilding of certain deteriorated DCR bridges will be taken over by MassHighway, and plans are in the works to transfer curb-to-curb roadway maintenance of DCR parkways to the state highway department, with DCR retaining responsibility for maintaining the historic character of its parkways.

“Under Commissioner Rick Sullivan, DCR is poised to take our parks and beaches to new heights,” said Secretary Bowles. “But the department will succeed only if it can concentrate on its core mission of making our parks and beaches places we can all be proud of.”

Recommended Reading

Veteran Ben LaGuer

Let me finally return to Dwight Macdonald and the responsibility of intellectuals. Macdonald quotes an interview with a death-camp paymaster who burst into tears when told that the Russians would hang him. "Why should they? What have I done?" he asked. Macdonald concludes: "Only those who are willing to resist authority themselves when it conflicts too intolerably with their personal moral code, only they have the right to condemn the death-camp paymaster." The question, "What have I done?" is one that we may well ask ourselves, as we read each day of fresh atrocities in Vietnam—as we create, or mouth, or tolerate the deceptions that will be used to justify the next defense of freedom.

– Chomsky, The Responsibility of Intellectuals 1967

Words to Remember:

"Juris praecepta sunt haec: honeste vivere; alterum non laedere; suum cuique tribuere"(These are the precepts of the law: To live honorably; to hurt nobody; to render to every one his due.)

"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." -Section 1 of the 14th amendment to the US Constitution

Never Forgotten; Sadly Missed

Lawrence King

GLBT Legends

Paul McMahon and Ralph Hodgdon in 2007

"If you want to be important -- wonderful. If you want to be recognized -- wonderful. If you want to be great -- wonderful. But, recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness." -Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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